Soothing the Pain Away
by mellyb6
Summary: It's a sunny day in Forks. Charlies goes to La Push and Bella tags along. Written for lilabut's prompt: Bella has a bee sting. Takes place the summer between Twilight and New Moon.


Disclaimer: I don't own anything Twilight-related.

I asked for some prompts on **The Air The Sun**. This is the first one shot I wrote today. The prompt was given by **lilabut**: **_Bella has a bee sting_**.

This takes place the summer between _Twilight_ and _New Moon_.

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><p><strong>Soothing the Pain Away.<strong>

Bella was annoyed. Not that she disliked Jacob or anything like this. Jacob was a great kid, but the last time she saw him, he made some weird comments about Edward, and she had no desire to be stuck in a house with Billy who would stare at her for hours. She didn't want to be in La Push anyway. She could have stayed indoors with the Cullens. Edward was teaching her how to play chess.

But Charlie had insisted she should come and visit his old friends. She never went to La Push anymore. So here she was, walking with Jacob to go to the beach. It wouldn't be hot enough for her to swim. At least it wasn't raining, and it was an improvement.

The great thing about Jacob was that since he hadn't seen her in a couple of months, he had _lots_ of things to tell her. All she had to do was nod while he talked about the car he was trying to rebuild. She was strangely fascinated by the fact that he could build a car by himself. He was only like, 15 or something. Bella was fascinated by his hair, too. She would kill to have hair this long and shiny. It wasn't fair that it belonged to a teenage boy.

"Are you even listening to me, Bella?" She almost fell to the ground when he stopped abruptly, turning around to address her. Jesus. He was way too big for his age. She had to look up to meet his eyes. The boy was having a hell of a growth spurt. He smirked as she tried to remember what he had just told her. It was weird looking at a boy smiling, and not feeling like he was dazzling you. Bella loved when Edward smiled, but there was something more natural and less odd about Jacob's smile. It was like he was making fun of her, and wasn't ashamed of doing so.

"Sure, you said something about a boy named... hmmm... Quil? That kind of name is this anyway?"

"I wasn't talking about him. Geez. You can say it if I'm bothering you. I'll shut up." He was sure she wasn't interested in what he was saying. He was a stupid boy living on a reservation. There was nothing exciting happening around here. Not for a girl who had a very rich boyfriend and could get all that she wanted. His life was pretty boring in comparison.

"No! No! I was just thinking about... your hair. I really like your hair," Bella confessed when she noticed how his smile fell, and how disappointed he seemed to be. She would rather be with her boyfriend, sure, but she knew Charlie would never want to drive her back to Forks. If she was stuck here, she could play nice with the boy who wanted to be her friend.

"My hair?"

"Yes. It's long, and very shiny, and I know most girls would pay a fortune to have the same."

"Oh yeah? Okay... hmmm... Thanks? I guess?" He wasn't comfortable talking about beauty tips or whatever. How could he know a thing about it? Actually, he knew more than most boys (courtesy of his sisters) but he had made a point of burying these information in a corner of his mind. "Come on. Hurry up or all the good spots will be gone." Jacob grabbed her hand without thinking about it twice. There was a pause as he realized what he'd just done. This girl was supposed to be his friend, but he hadn't seen her in forever. Plus, she had a boyfriend. He should let go and apologize. Yes, he should do that.

Bella's eyes were locked on their hands clasped together. She was a little shocked. She was more used to cold hands holding hers. Besides, Edward had always been so careful around her, always asking before touching her. They couldn't hold hands for too long, or hers was bound to hurt. Jacob holding her hand was different. It seemed natural. Despite herself, she didn't mind. She minded the blush that crept over her face, though. What would Edward say when he'd hear about it? Would he be jealous? It wasn't like Bella was attracted to Jacob after all. He was younger than she was, and it looked like he was embarrassed about his spontaneous move, too.

It was funny that even with his tan skin, she could see that he was blushing a little. And what the heck? It was a nice change to have a warm hand holding hers. She started walking again, pulling Jacob along with her. She couldn't see the grin on his face, and it was better this way. Friends could hold hands, right?

Jacob had done all the talking since they left the house. It was only fair to start a new conversation. She wasn't sure he would be interested in what she had to say, so she chose something she knew was safe.

"I can trip over anything, you know? Like, there's nothing on the road, but I can fall anyway. I don't have any balance."

"That's not a problem. I can keep you from falling. I'm really strong."

"I'm sure you are." Bella had noticed the bulging muscles under Jacob's tee-shirt. He had to go to the gym or something. None of the guys at the high school were as big as he was, and he was younger than all her friends. Maybe it was a La Push thing. Who knew? Bella had been fascinated by it as soon as Charlie pulled up in Billy's driveway. It was embarrassing to be caught staring. "But don't tell Edward we were... you know." She lifted their hands a little higher in the air.

"Why? I can't touch his girlfriend?"

"He's a little protective, that's all. And you... Oh my God! What's that?" Bella stopped walking, her hand leaving Jacob's grasp to try to get rid of the little insect that was flying all around her.

"It's a bee, Bella. Don't move or it'll sting you. Stop moving!" Jacob pinned her arms to her sides, forcing her to stay still. It wasn't really working. She kept trembling against his chest, and even if he couldn't see her face, her voice made it clear she was about to cry.

"It's on me. I don't know where but it's... Get rid of it, Jacob! It's... it's under my shirt!"

While his teenage mind was in awe that her body was wriggling so close to his, he tried very hard not to think too much about it.

"Stay still, Bella. If you keep this up, you'll get hut. Stop moving, dammit!"

"It's under my _shirt, _you idiot! It's... Oh God. I want it out! Get it out!" Jacob didn't understand how, but she managed to break free from his hold on her arms. Bella looked a little crazy only because of a bee. And then she did what she shouldn't have. She tried to slap the bee away. Bad idea.

"Ouch!"

"I told you. You should have..." Jacob stopped talking when he saw her glaring. It was scary, even if she had tears in her eyes. Her lips were quivering, as if she was fighting with herself not to cry. Only girls could get so affected by a little bee sting. It was nothing.

"Do you want me to have a look?"

"I don't think so. I... I'd rather have Charlie..." Bella wasn't sure of where the sting was, but she was positive it was somewhere she didn't want her father to look or touch. She doubted Edward would be comfortable looking at it, too. But Jacob? Jacob was nothing to her. He may be her friend, but that was all. It was even more embarrassing. She had such bad luck. Stupid bee.

Bella sat down on the side of the road, Jacob hovering above her. From down here, she could finally notice how big he had gotten. He had to stop growing. It couldn't be healthy.

"Let me have a quick look. You know you need to at least get the stinger out."

"Yes, I know. I... okay." She gave up trying to resist him. With her luck, she would get sick if she waited for too long. She had no desire of getting sick because of a stupid bee. Jacob knelt down next to her, waiting patiently. The girl in front of him was on the verge of crying, and he didn't know what to do if it happened. He wanted to avoid it at all costs.

"I think it's somewhere here," Bella muttered, unbuttoning her shirt, and letting the left sleeve hung loose. She was blushing so hard she could feel it. Jacob gulped loudly, his face was as red as hers, but she couldn't know because she was looking intently in the other direction.

Jacob couldn't believe what was happening. Of all the places where the bee could have hurt her, it had decided to settle right above her left breast. He was looking at her breast. Or her bra. He was looking at her bra. It was like being hypnotized. Bella was mentally slapping herself for not wearing a cuter one, but Jacob was mesmerized. It was the first time in his life he was coming so close to breasts. He swallowed loudly again.

"Okay. I think I should... just... scratch it out." Bella nodded vigorously. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his hand. He didn't want to hurt her more. But, oh God. Her skin was soft. Despite being embarrassed by the situation, he was kind of ecstatic about being able to touch Bella Swan where he shouldn't be. Her blush was covering almost all her exposed skin, but it was still so much paler than his. And soft. Very, very soft. So much softer than what he was used to.

Bella was dying of shame just from the fact that a boy who wasn't a boyfriend could see what her boyfriend had never seen before. She was also dying of shame because she actually liked how Jacob's hand felt on her. He had rough fingers from working on his car or whatever. Bella wasn't used to this at all, and she shouldn't have liked it. She was never going to be able to look at Jacob again after today. She was never going to tell Edward what had happened.

"Okay. It's gone. My... hmmm... my mom used to give me a kiss to soothe the pain away when I was a kid, but I don't think you want..."

"No! I'll live without the kiss!" she exclaimed, clasping the blouse close to her chest. "I mean, thanks and all, but a kiss is not necessary. Especially not _there_." Shoot. Well, he had to give a try anyway, didn't he?

"An ice cream, then? Would an ice cream help?"

"I'm not five, Jacob. I don't need a treat because I was attacked by a bee."

"You were kind of crying, though. I'd say you need an ice cream to feel better."

"I wasn't crying!"

"Liar. I saw the tears. It's okay to cry if you're hurt. I used to do it all the time when I was little." She turned around too fast to give him time to hide the smirk on his face. Bella considered getting mad for a second, before deciding that it wasn't worth it. He was right after all. She freaked out so much, she would have cried if she had been by herself.

"So you must still be doing it. What about you call me the next time you get hurt, and I'll come wipe the tears away." She was actually surprised at the words coming out of her mouth. It wasn't like her to play along in such banter. She wasn't used to it. She liked it.

"Sure, sure. Stop talking nonsense and come get an ice cream."

"Oh, I see. You're the one wanting one after all. Come on. Let's go get one. And one more thing, Jacob. If we could... you know... keep this little incident between the two of us, that'd be great."

"I won't say a thing." It wasn't going to be a problem. He had gotten to touch Bella Swan, and you bet he was going to keep it to himself. It was too great to be shared with his friends. It would be his secret. His _cool_ and _awesome_ secret.


End file.
